Sony Computer Entertainment

TOKYO: Users of Sony's PlayStation Portable game console can soon make free Skype Internet phone calls under a deal struck between the two companies, a news report said on Saturday. Sony Computer Entertainment Inc and Skype Technologies SA will launch the service this month on the PSP's latest model released in September, according to a report in the business daily, Nikkei. The new service enables free online calls between PSP owners and personal...

TOKYO: Sony said Thursday the successor to its PlayStation Portable machine will go on sale late this year, offering the quality of a home console in an on-the-go machine boasting a screen double the size of smart phones. The NGP, short for "next generation portable," has a touch panel in the front and touch pads in the back to allow players to tap on the machine to move images, in addition to the usual buttons and switches. It also offers a third-generation...

MUMBAI: Sony Computer Entertainment has asked the Centre to slash the "high" import duty on consoles from 35 per cent to 15 per cent. The high import duty is hindering the growth of gaming industry in India, which is a sunrise sector, Sony Computer Entertainment Country Manager Atindriya Bose said. Sony imports its console called Playstation from Europe. A console is a physical device, which can be attached to a television to play games and watch movies.

TOKYO: Sony Corp said it plans to sell auto-related programmes such as the BBC's Top Gear series to users of its PlayStation 3 via the Internet, strengthening the game machine's appeal as a gateway to the Web. Sony's game unit will put an online TV channel function in its upcoming racing game "Gran Turismo 5 Prologue", which will go on sale in Japan on Dec. 13, allowing users to download auto documentaries, auto race digests and...

TOKYO: Sony Corp. slashed the Japan price of its handheld game machine Monday ahead of the critical year-end shopping season. Sony said the PlayStation Portable Go will drop in price starting on Tuesday to 16,800 yen ($200) from 26,800 yen ($330). Its price has already been coming down in the U.S. since last week from $250 to $199, according to Sony Computer Entertainment , the Japanese electronics and entertainment company's game unit. ...

TOKYO: Sony has a new message for Nintendo Wii gamers: Come join us. The Japanese maker of the PlayStation 3 unveiled Thursday its highly anticipated motion controlling system, as it takes aim at Nintendo's dominance in the gaming sector. With the "PlayStation Move," Sony hopes to lure gamers who have outgrown Nintendo, which launched the Wii in 2006 and became the first to introduce motion-detecting controllers. Peter Dille, senior vice president of...

TOKYO: Sony said on Monday that PlayStation 3 game machine sales totaled 1.2 million in North America during the key holiday season, boosting the strength of its console's Blu-ray next-generation video format. Competition is intense among the latest video game machines _ pitting Sony Corp. against Nintendo Co. and Microsoft Corp. Competition is also fierce between two of the latest video formats _ Blu-ray and HD DVD. The PlayStation 3...

TOKYO: Sony Corp's game unit said on Tuesday it will cut the prices of its next generation PlayStation 3 game consoles in Japan next week, and offer a new low-range model in November. Sony Computer Entertainment Inc will cut the price of its model with 20 gigabytes of hard disk memory by about 10 per cent to 44,980 yen ($384; euro273) from the current 49,980 yen (US$427; euro303), effective Oct 17, the company said in a statement posted on its web site. The price of its...

TOKYO: Sony Corp. slashed the Japan price of its handheld game machine Monday ahead of the critical year-end shopping season. Sony said the PlayStation Portable Go will drop in price starting on Tuesday to 16,800 yen ($200) from 26,800 yen ($330). Its price has already been coming down in the U.S. since last week from $250 to $199, according to Sony Computer Entertainment , the Japanese electronics and entertainment company's game unit. ...

TOKYO: Sony Computer Entertainment said that the "Father of the PlayStation," Ken Kutaragi, is stepping down as chief executive of the video game giant as it battles fierce competition from its rivals. Kutaragi, 56, will become honorary chairman of the company, which has dominated the home video-game market since the 1994 launch of the original PlayStation console, the company said in a statement late Thursday. Kutaragi is the architect...

TOKYO: Sony's PlayStation 3 video game console will come with a beefed up 80-gigabyte hard-disk drive in South Korea and that model is being considered for the U.S. and other markets, a company official said Wednesday. The PlayStation 3, which competes against Nintendo Co.'s Wii and Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360, now comes with a 60-gigabyte hard drive. A 20-gigabyte version, which has been discontinued in the United States, still sells in Japan and some other regions. ...

BANGALORE: India with one of the biggest untapped gaming market in the world with less than one per cent penetration held a huge potential with industry bodies estimating that it would reach 425 million dollars by 2010. India was lagging behind by 10-15 years in the world gaming curve but had picked up rapid growth in the last two-three years with the console gaming component having experienced a seven fold growth, said Atindriya Bose, Country Manager, Sony Computer...

MUMBAI: Sony Computer Entertainment has asked the Centre to slash the "high" import duty on consoles from 35 per cent to 15 per cent. The high import duty is hindering the growth of gaming industry in India, which is a sunrise sector, Sony Computer Entertainment Country Manager Atindriya Bose said. Sony imports its console called Playstation from Europe. A console is a physical device, which can be attached to a television to play games and watch movies.

JAPAN: Video game rivals Sony and Microsoft are going head-to-head in virtual worlds for their home consoles later this year. Both companies announced their services, which use graphic images that represent players called "avatars," Thursday at the Tokyo Game Show. Sony Corp's twice delayed online "Home" virtual world for the PlayStation 3 console will be available sometime later this year, while US software maker Microsoft Corp, which competes with its Xbox 360, is...

TOKYO: Sony will launch a new PlayStation Portable in October with a high-resolution screen and a built-in microphone that enables it to be used as a telephone, the company said Thursday. The PSP-3000, which will be available in Japan, Asia, North America and Europe, has the same basic design of the current PSP Slim and Lite, and comes in three colours -- black, white and silver. It can be used to make telephone calls through the Skype service, which Sony added to PSPs...

TOKYO: Nintendo's Wii outsold rival Sony's PlayStation 3 (PS3) three-fold in Japan last year, helping the country's multi-billion dollar video game market to notch up its best ever year, a survey showed Monday. Nintendo sold about 3.63 million Wii consoles in its home market in 2007 while Sony sold 1.21 million PS3s, according to magazine publisher Enterbrain. The Wii also trounced the PS3 more than three-fold in the key year-end sales...

TOKYO: Sony will launch a new PlayStation Portable in October with a high-resolution screen and a built-in microphone that enables it to be used as a telephone, the company said Thursday. The PSP-3000, which will be available in Japan, Asia, North America and Europe, has the same basic design of the current PSP Slim and Lite, and comes in three colours -- black, white and silver. It can be used to make telephone calls through the Skype service, which Sony added to PSPs already...

LOS ANGELES: Sony Corp. on Monday said it was ordered by a US federal court to halt US sales of its PlayStation game consoles and pay nearly $91 million in patent infringement damages to a California company, although the judge immediately put her ruling on hold. The stay in the case means Sony will not actually have to stop importing or selling the PlayStation 2 console in the United States, and will not have to remove PS2s from store shelves, while the appeal is pending.

TOKYO: Sony said on Monday that PlayStation 3 game machine sales totaled 1.2 million in North America during the key holiday season, boosting the strength of its console's Blu-ray next-generation video format. Competition is intense among the latest video game machines _ pitting Sony Corp. against Nintendo Co. and Microsoft Corp. Competition is also fierce between two of the latest video formats _ Blu-ray and HD DVD. The PlayStation 3...

TOKYO: Users of Sony's PlayStation Portable game console can soon make free Skype Internet phone calls under a deal struck between the two companies, a news report said on Saturday. Sony Computer Entertainment Inc and Skype Technologies SA will launch the service this month on the PSP's latest model released in September, according to a report in the business daily, Nikkei. The new service enables free online calls between PSP owners and personal...